Excerpt:

BACKGROUND

On September 24th, the City Council held a study session to discuss Project Labor Agreements and other related pre-hire negotiated collective bargaining agreements, and to expose how such agreements might be used within the City of Alameda. After a detailed presentation and question and answer session with Michael Vlaming, an attorney with considerable expertise in the area, Council requested a follow-up report to address certain issues raised during the study session, with a matrix of choices to be considered by the City Council should it chooser to move forward in the policy arena.

DISCUSSION

Project Labor Agreements and other related agreements, such as Project Stabilization Agreements and Community Benefit Agreements (referred to collectively herein as "PLAs") are agreements negotiated between a developer, public entity or general contractor, and the unions belonging to the building trades council for the affected area. For Alameda, this would be the Building and Construction Trades Council of Alameda County, AFL-CIO ("BTC"). A public entity can require a developer or a contractor to agree to utilize a PLA as a condition of entering into a development agreement, lease or construction contract for a public work with the public entity, or a private contract subject to a Development Agreement with the City. These agreements tend to work best when they affect long term construction projects requiring multiple contractors or subcontractors who employ workers in multiple crafts or trades. A PLA is generally considered to be inappropriate on small, short term construction projects involving one or two trades or very specialized construction work that can be performed by only a limited number of contractors.